Professor Quirrell to defend against dark arts in Shetland series nine
Guest actors for the new Shetland TV series have been announced – with Harry Potter star Ian Hart topping the billing.
Hart, who played Professor Quirrell in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, will be joined by Vincent Regan, who is best known for appearing in Snow White and the Huntsman, in the hotly anticipated new series.
Filming for series nine will take place in Shetland and other locations around Scotland over the coming months, ahead of its broadcast on BBC One later this year.
Shetland star Ashley Jensen, who made her debut as DI Ruth Calder in the last series, will be returning alongside Alison O’Donnell as Tosh, and Steven Robertson as DC Sandy Wilson.
Other guests include Stuart Campbell, from SAS Rogue Heroes, Robert Jack, of Annika, Nalini Chetty, who appeared in Karen Pirie, Jimmy Yuill, from Guilt, and Lesley Hart of Granite Harbour.
Originally based on award-winning novels by crime writer Ann Cleeves, the new six-part series sees DI Calder – now a resident of the isles – thrown in at the deep end after a friend of Tosh’s goes missing.
Speaking of his new role Hart said he was looking forward to” embarking on a Shetland adventure”
“It’s a place I’ve always wanted to visit and to do so with this incredible drama is wonderful,” he said.
Regan said he was “thrilled” to be joining the cast of “such a beloved BBC drama”.
“My character and his family are at the heart of this dark and twisting storyline and I’m looking forward to seeing how it all unfolds,” he added.
“The opportunity to visit the Shetland Isles was also a real pull to the part as well as working with the likes of Ashley Jensen and Alison O’Donnell.”
The last series of Shetland was viewed by an average of seven million viewers making it the second-biggest drama in Scotland all year, second only to Happy Valley.
The ninth series was part of a double commission recently announced by the BBC. Series 10 will film in 2025.
The new series will be written by Paul Logue and Denise Paul, produced by Louise V Say and directed by Andrew Cumming and Ruth Paxton.
Executive producers are Gaynor Holmes for the BBC, Kate Bartlett, Denise Paul and Paul Logue for Silverprint Pictures.
Irene Kennedy
We loved the series of SHETLAND with Jimmy Perez. He was a great actor and fit the roll perfectly as do the rest of the cast. There was never any bad language and yet they got the job done every time.
Why then has the programme sunk to the depths with such coarseness.
We have a beautiful language which, if used properly, has great meaning and it doesn’t need to be embellished with depravity of the verbal kind. It does nothing to educate young people in English either.
Unless there is an improvement in the first episode of the new series, we won’t be watching it, now or any time in the future.
Such a shame!!!